title: MicroRNAs with analogous target complementarities perform with highly variable efficacies in Arabidopsis.
abstract: In plants, the silencing efficacy of microRNAs (miRNAs) is thought to be predominantly determined by the degree of complementarity to their target genes. Here, silencing efficacy was determined for Arabidopsis miR159 and four artificial miRNAs (amiRNAs) that all target MYB33/MYB65 with analogous complementarities. As determined through complementation of a loss-of-function mir159 mutant, the amiRNAs displayed highly variable efficacies, none of which was as strong as endogenous miR159. This was despite amiRNA expression levels being many fold-higher than miR159 in wild-type. The results highlight the variable nature of miRNA silencing efficacy in plants, where it appears that factors additional to complementarity strongly impact silencing.
authors.affiliation: Research School of Biology, Australian National University, 0200 ACT, Australia.
authors.forename: Ira
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Deveson
authors.forename: Junyan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Anthony A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Millar
mesh_terms: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D015870:Gene Expression; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D034622:RNA Interference; D013816:Thermodynamics; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; C577006:MIRN159 microRNA, Arabidopsis; D035683:MicroRNAs; C577007:Myb33 protein, Arabidopsis; C585424:Myb65 protein, Arabidopsis; D014157:Transcription Factors
keywords: Arabidopsis; Efficacy; Gene silencing; MYB33/65; amiRNAs; miR159; miRNA abundance